+ PICS OF RANDOM NON IH ITEMS/ ACCESSOIRES/ FUN STUFF +

[Seul]

Post pics of your fav knife, pen, painting, furniture; anything you own and love. No new purchases though!.. Something that has been in your life for quite a while!..

I vote for my S.T. DUPONT 'Fidélio' fountain pen. Bought when a shop did a clearance sale back in 1997 (birth year of simon626). I think I got it for about 75 € - it retails for 300-450 € these days.

Not too long ago I wanted to switch the medium size point with a small sized one, and inquired about the price at a local penstore… 'Sure that is possible, Sir, it would cost 190 €'... I quickly went back to loving the medium size...

[Madame Buttonfly]

That's a beautiful pen, can understand why you cherish it.

Great thread idea, will starting thinking about what to post.

[Guest]

Very nice Seul

[hectic]

I like pens too Seul, I inherited this gold Parker pen/pencil set from my dad (you can see his initials engraved):

[Geo]

great topic idea

here's mine to weigh in . . . a laguiole corkscrew

bought it in Brussels almost exactly 14 years ago in a little shop that I stumbled upon that sold knives, pipes, tobacco etc - i think it was about 7000 fr. it's been to just about every part of the world and has opened so much wine, i'm getting pissed just thinking about it

i think it is a truly beautiful item - the balance is perfect, the foil cutter just doesn't get blunt and the screw is a double helix which means it won't fail on any cork (and it hasn't)

it's made from pearwood which has developed a lovely patina from being continuously used, and the rest of the hardware is 440 steel. i even love the little wallet it came with - especially the big snaps with their bee logo

many consider this to be the finest corkscrew available and every year laguiole make a version of this to the specification of the world sommelier winner that year and name it after him

love it so much, i recently bought a second . . . just in case

[hectic]

Nice choice Geo. I have a carving knife/fork set by Laguiole, great prods.

[Geo]

cheers hectic - i always lusted after a full dinner set but it's a couple of thound quid i could other stuff with

[Seul]

hectic: lovely stuff lad!.. That fountain pen looks heavy!..

Geo: so we both bought our most loved item 14 years ago in Belgium… Must've been the position of Jupiter or something ey!.. Lovely corkscrew - might have to buy one as a gift for me dad!..

[Geo]

ha '97! - never picked up on that fact

i was over with my a mate just to get away from the women-folk who had been driving us crazy by blowing out our paypal accounts and all that kind of stuff women do 

stayed at the Conrad up on Av. Louise - v. nice . . . and basically ate and drank ourselves to a standstill - buying the corkscrew was during one of the few lucid moments 

[mvb]

cool idea, is that pen solid gold seul?

heres my pen, a waterman exception night and day platina:

its hard sometimes to come up with stuff to write down in these digital times

[Seul]

Plaque gold body - 14 k gold point. Designed for life - just like IH gear!..

[Madame Buttonfly]

Geo - love the corkscrew, am going to start looking at Laguiole (further abuse of G's PayPal account?)

Here is something G and I both love:  sorry the photo doesn't do it justice, and anyway although it's a very pleasant, pretty oil painting it's not fantastically beautiful or technically accomplished, but the reason we cherish it is because it's a portrait of Giles's Mum's Mum (maternal Grandmother), painted by Giles's Dad's Mum (paternal Grandmother).  Both sets of grandparents were friends before their kids got together.  Giles's family - especially on his Mum's side - are all tall and slim and elegant - I do so envy the lovely, long limbs of the attractive young woman in the painting.  And Granny Padmore was actually very talented (she exhibited at the RA) and we have a number of paintings as do other family members.  We think this was painted late 1940s or early 1950s.  A treasured piece of family history.

[Seul]

Nice Paula!.. Love the story behind it!.. In hindsight this thread wàs a good idea… Never thought I'd come up with ànything remotely useful on a Sunday...

[Geo]

i think you'll really appreciate the laguiole brand Mrs G - they do a kind of high street line, but without wanting to sound too grandiose, i wouldn't bother about it . . . the mainline is where the heritage and craftsmanship lies (especially when it's on some other account)

as for the painting - i think you could easily be a bit more generous . . . I think it is quite lovely and really conveys the elegance you describe

but the most wonderful thing is the whole provenance - amazing

[Madame Buttonfly]

Why, thank you both Seul and Geo.  I love rainy Sundays - great excuse to sit in front of roaring fire with MacBook on lap and glass of wine on the side, whiling away the hours!

[Guest]

Very nice painting!!!  Paula

[jacoavlu]

I enjoy shooting film.

[Seul]

New'un… Mont Blanc 'Noblesse' roller. Used to have the fountain pen version, just wanted a roller as it's easier at work... Sometimes when I hand my Dupont fountain over to people to sign something, they SMACK it into the papers... Always makes me cringe... So yeah: roller... It's silver and I know by experience that it will get really dirty really soon - can't wait!..

I got it cheap cause the MB signature top is missing (last pic), but I knocked 30 € off the price and my local shop will send it to MB to fix it (which will cost 40-50 €, just for the top - expensive bastards!).

[Giles]

Stick a plug of 21oz denim in there Seul, give the thing some class….................

[Tripleterror]

I thought about putting a picture of my wife up, she's been with me a long time but I thought something a little more practical would be appropriate 
My hole punch, been with me 31 years and still going strong !